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Jacob's POV:
Paul broke into loud snarls as he looked up at the bloodsucker dangling from a branch like a filthy monkey, taunting us and laughing.
"Oh look. A pack of puppy dogs pretending to be big bad wolves." The melody of his laughter echoed through the trees.
Paul took up a pounce position again.
'Easy Paul, relax! Stand down, now!' Sam commanded.
Paul's snout hit the ground as he obeyed the alpha's command.
"Poor little puppy. Don't you know that dogs can't jump?" The filthy leech jumped from one tree to the next.
Pinecones dropped from above hitting us in the head and causing us all to bark out. There was no way any of us could reach the fucker, only if we were in human form could we even think about climbing a tree and getting it. I bet I could reach it. I was taller and stronger than the rest, I could jump up there and get the leech out of the tree.
'Get that thought right out of your head Jacob Black.' Sam barked out.
'I wasn't going to do shit oh grand alpha. S'just a thought.' I rolled my eyes.
The leech chanted above us. "Perhaps if you grew wings you might fly up here and catch me!" He laughed louder dangling from another branch.
The pack went crazy with barks and snarls.
"I hate when my mealtime is interrupted." The bloodsucker's laughter died. "I'm tired of games." He hissed. "Go find a herd of elk to eat!"
He looked down at the pack and then sprung to the next tree, the pack followed below. He lifted his head to the sky and inhaled deeply.
"Ahhh! A young delicious woman waits for me. I haven't the time for games pups. Go away!" He looked down on us with menacing eyes and snarled.
Everything went red. I was blinded by fury at his words. That was my girl, my Christi he was talking about. I knew it!
'Jake, you don't know that for sure.' Embry cut in.
'The leech saw us in the forest. I could smell the bastard!' I howled out with anger.
There were voices in my head, but I paid them no attention, I was furious. I looked up at the fiend and mentally surveyed the distance between us. I could reach the fucker, I know I could! Just one large leap and the filth would be mine.
'Jake! No!' Sam yelled.
I didn't give a fuck, I crouched back and sprung up as high as I could leap. Everything happened so quickly. The fucking leech saw me as I sprung and swatted me like a fucking fly. One moment I was in the air and the next I was being thrown against a tree. I felt the bones in my left shoulder break painfully as my body ricocheted off of the tree and landed on the ground with a loud thump. I yelped in pain.
'Damn it Jake! What the fuck were you thinking?' Sam and the others ran to my side.
Laughter echoed from the treetops as the fiend got away.
'Fuck!' I was in so much pain. 'Christi!'
She was the one and only thing on my mind. I didn't give a fuck about the pain, I needed her to be safe. That fucking parasite was hunting her.
'Paul, Jared run! Go check on the girls!' Sam commanded.
Paul and Jared took off running fast as lightening, I attempted to get up. Bad idea. I howled in pain as soon as I tried to move.
"Don't be an idiot Jacob!" Sam yelled out. He had already phased and was above me surveying the damage of my shoulder.
'Fucking shit, damn it!' I cursed out in pain.
'Take it easy man.' Embry tried to calm me down but it wasn't fucking helping. This shit really hurt.
"Jacob, listen to me, I need you to phase back." Sam said calmly. "Phase back Jake." He repeated. "Wait." He leaned down. "Don't move."
He reached down and quickly pulled out a large tree branch from my shoulder. I howled with pain.
"Sorry, I had to. Now listen to me Jake." His face was calm, his eyes intense. "I need you to phase back."
Sam crouched down next to me. Phase back? How the hell was I supposed to do that when I was fucking experiencing the worst goddamn pain of my life? Phase back? Phasing required concentration, yeah I was better at it than the rest, but not now, not like this. No way in hell I was going to be able to fucking do shit right now.
"Jacob. Listen! I need you to relax. I know it hurts." Like hell he knew. He wasn't the one laying on the ground with broken bones and a goddamn hole in his fucking shoulder, how the fuck did he know anything? "But, trust me. I need you to relax and phase. Deep breaths." He coached me.
I tried to refocus my energy. C'mon Jake, you can do this, don't think of the pain. I took a deep breath in and exhaled through my snout. Another deep breath in through my snout and exhale. Fuck this hurts.
"That's it, focus Jake." Sam coached. "Breathe in slowly and now exhale slowly." He said soothingly.
I felt my body relax, the fire within started to die down.
'The girls are safe. The leech is nowhere near here.' I heard Paul's thoughts.
Oh thank you ancient spirits for taking care of my girl!
'Jared's phasing to talk to Seth. We will head back as soon as they are done talking.'
'No! Stay there. Keep an eye on the girls.' I said frantically.
'Jake, we should really go follow the filthy leeches trail. We can't sit around with our thumbs up our asses while it's out there!' Paul had a point.
I opened my eyes and looked at Sam.
'Paul and Jared?' Sam asked. I nodded. 'Tell them to follow the trail.'
Fuck, I didn't want them to leave the girls alone, but I had to trust in Seth to keep them safe.
'Follow the trail, that's an order from Sam.' I commanded. As second in charge they had to follow my instructions.
'Got it. We're on it Jake.' Jared said and took off running followed by Paul.
'Jacob I need you to refocus.' Sam brought me back to reality. 'You need to phase back.'
I closed my eyes. Sam kept coaching me through relaxation and breathing deeply. It took a while, but my body slowly phased back to human form.
"Son of a bitch!" The pain was indescribable. I felt like I was going to pass out. "Fuck!"
"Easy Jake, relax." Sam's voice was still calm and collected.
Embry and Quil came running out of the woods. When the hell did they leave? They brought back mine and Sam's clothes along with a blanket. Sam got dressed and quickly reached down to put my pants on me. I yelled out in pain any time my body was moved in the slightest. I could feel the bones setting back in place slowly – painfully. Quil and Embry made a makeshift gurney out of the blanket and slid it underneath me. They both looked down on me with apologetic eyes as my body was once again moved. The fountain of curse words flowed freely from my mouth. I didn't give a damn, I was in pain.
The guys slowly lifted me and carried me back to my house.
"How the hell am I going to explain all of this to her?" Embry asked. His eyes were full of worry.
"Perhaps it's time to tell her the truth." Sam said quietly. "I can't tell you which way to tell her Embry, you have to find your own words."
Embry's eyes fell to the ground as we approached my house. Poor guy, I knew exactly what he was going through, but I was in too much fucking pain to be able to offer any kind of coherent advice right now. Seth ran up to us just before we walked out of the tree line. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on anything – anything but the damn pain.
"How is he?" He asked looking down at me.
"He's in pain. But he'll heal." Sam said shaking his head from side to side.
"He is right fucking here and can hear you just fucking fine!" I barked out.
"Sorry Jake." Seth's eyes instantly focused on me. "I thought you were sleeping."
"Not sleeping – closing eyes in pain." I groaned.
"Seth, can you get this side?" Embry asked. "I need to go – talk – to Heidi." His head was still hanging low.
"Awe c'mon Emb. S'not that bad." Quil tried to reassure him. Somehow I don't think it helped.
Oh well, time for Embry to face the piper. Seth quickly jogged over to relieve Embry of his carrying duties.
"Did Paul and Jared take off to follow the trail?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, they took off to the east." Seth said looking east.
The door to my house slowly opened, we watched as Embry and Blondie walked out. He had his arm around her shoulder and she was chattering, asking a million questions all at once.
"Where did you go? What happened? What was that all about? How could you just get up and leave me like that?" The interrogation went on and on as they walked off. Poor Embry, I truly felt bad for him.
"C'mon, let's get Jake in the house." Sam said.
The door to my house swung open again and I saw Christi come out. She was pacing the porch with her arms tightly crossed over her chest mumbling incoherently.
"Please… please… please…" She kept repeating over and over again.
The guys walked out of the cover of trees towards the house. Christi's head turned in our direction. She squinted through the darkness as we approached. Shit, what the hell was she going to think when she saw me? She gasped loudly as she saw us come closer, her hand reached up to clutch the shirt from her chest.
"Oh god, no." She ran to my side.
"S'ok Christi, he'll be fine." Sam said soothingly.
She had tears in her eyes. She looked down at me with a forced half smile and then nodded at Sam. All I wanted to do was to hold her and to kiss her, but I couldn't do either. I was stuck laying here in this stupid gurney in pain.
"I'm ok honey." I whispered. I didn't want her to hear the pain in my voice, I tried to hide it the best I could.
Her small hand reached down and ran across my forehead softly. I felt a stinging sensation and winced.
"Oh god I'm sorry honey." She squeaked out retracting her hand quickly.
"We need to get him inside Christi. He needs to lie down." Sam spoke again.
Christi stepped aside as the guys carried me into the house. They took me into my room and lay me down on my bed sliding the makeshift gurney out from underneath me. Emily quickly chased them out of my room and started to examine my wounds.
"Fuck!" I yelled out as she felt around my shoulder. "Sorry." I instantly apologized to Emily.
I didn't want to be ungrateful for her help, but fuck it hurt when she touched it.
"Well it's not dislocated, that's the good news. But I think it is broken." You think? If I wasn't in so much pain I'd laugh.
She reached over to the blanket that had been used as my gurney and tore off a large piece of material. She wrapped the material around my good shoulder and created a sling. She helped me slide my arm into it slowly as I bit back another curse word.
She smiled warmly at me. "You'll be just fine in a few days Jacob. Rest now, I'll make you some tea."
I could hear Christi and Sam talking in the living room. She was asking him what happened. All that he would say is that I had an accident.
"Will he be ok?" Christi's voice sounded shaky.
"We heal quickly Christi. Don't worry." Sam said soothingly.
My poor Christi was worried sick over me and for what reason? All because I had to go play the fucking hero and ignore my pack leader's orders and do stupid shit that I wasn't supposed to do, that's why. I'm sure I would hear it from Sam later. Fuck! I looked up at Emily.
"No tea Em. I just want – can you get Christi please?" I wasn't in the mood for tea, I just wanted my girl. I needed her with me.
Emily nodded and left quietly closing the door behind her. I heard Emily tell Christi it was ok for her to come see me now. I heard her tiny footsteps down the hall and then the doorknob turned. She peeked in slowly and looked around.
"Jake?" She whispered.
"Yes honey I'm awake."
She came into the room, closing the door behind her. She walked over to the bed reluctantly and looked down at me with wide eyes. Her face turned pale.
"S'not that bad." I tried to force a smile.
"You're covered in blood." She gasped.
"S'all dry by now." I knew all my wounds had healed shut, I had felt them healing on the way home.
She kneeled next to me crossing her arms on the bed. Her eyes filled with tears as she buried her head between her arms, hiding her face from me. It hurt like hell, but I reached over with my good hand and stroked her hair softly.
"God Jake, why did this happen?" Her words were muffled by the mattress.
"S'ok honey, I'll be fine." I couldn't stand seeing her like this.
"I'm sorry." She sniffled into her arms.
"Why?" I was confused, she didn't do nothing to be sorry for.
"For crying like a big baby." She lifted her head slightly and looked up at me.
"You're apologizing for crying?" I couldn't help but chuckle and then groaned out in pain as my body shook. "Damn it!"
"I'm sorry." Her head snapped up.
"Yeah, quit making me laugh." I smiled big. "You're killin' me here." It's amazing how she can make me forget everything. "Come here beautiful." I wanted to kiss her, I licked my lips trying to give her a not so subtle hint.
She slowly stood up and leaned down to kiss me very softly and very carefully. She ran her hand over my face lightly and looked deep into my eyes.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again Jacob Black." She looked down at me with intense eyes.
"I'll try." I reached up with my good hand and ran my fingers over her cheek and jaw line.
A beautiful smile formed on her delicious lips. Why the hell are you such and idiot Jacob? Why can't you just mind your own damn business and stop being such a fucking hot head all the time? Oh, right, protecting my imprint who just happens to be the love of my life. She's worth it. I smiled against her lips.
"What's so funny?" She smiled back.
"Nothing s'just I love you." I smiled again.
"Mmm… bet I love you more." I wouldn't count on it Christi, but ok, I'll play along.
"Mmm… probably."
"Do I detect sarcasm Mr. Black?"
"Nope. Just letting you feel like you won." I couldn't help grinning big.
"So considerate." She rolled her eyes at me playfully. "You need to rest." Her eyes filled with concern again. "Your body needs to heal. I'll – I'll sleep in the other room tonight so you can be comfortable. Ok? Call me if you need anything."
She was going to what? Sleep – in the other room? Not with me? No way in hell that was going to happen. I opened my mouth to protest.
"Don't even think about it Jacob Black. You need to rest in peace without anything or anyone disturbing you. Stop being such a hard head." She narrowed her eyes.
Well, I was covered in dry blood and dirt and my body was still throbbing, maybe she had a point, but fuck I didn't like the idea at all. I wanted her in my arms. Damn fucking broken bones. I will give in and let her have her way, for tonight.
"Ok honey. I'll miss you." I leaned my head up and stole another kiss.
"I'll be right here silly." She rolled her eyes again.
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do. It sucks to sleep alone now." She smiled sweetly. "Ok – rest time for the wounded, unless you want me to help you wash up?"
"I'm – I'm too – I just can't right now angel." I was in too much pain to move, and I think she knew it. Her eyes fell to the ground. "Hey." I lifted her chin to look at me. "S'ok, I'll be fine, I just need to rest. I'll clean up tomorrow ok?"
"Ok then."
She pulled the sheet over me carefully and looked around to make sure I was comfortable. She's so damn sweet.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little, but I can't wait for tomorrow. G'night angel, sleep sweet." I reached up and caressed her face one more time and gave her one more kiss good night.
She walked out of the room turning the light off behind her.
